


cards on the table (we're both showing hearts)

by WishingTree



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 22:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14657765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: As hard as she tries, Kara sometimes maybe causes more trouble for Alex than is necessary. She never means to, but it does happen. When she accidentally leads Eliza to believe that Alex has a girlfriend when in reality she most certainly does not, she promises that she'll find a solution for her sister.That solution comes in the form of Lucy Lane.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set somewhere in season 1
> 
> Title from All of Me by John Legend;
> 
> A big thank you to my buddy [dimplesridley](http://dimplesridley.tumblr.com/) for helping me out and listening to me ramble!

Kara chewed her lip absentmindedly as she frowned down at the papers in front of her. Eliza was still talking over the phone, going on about her next visit to National City, and Kara was doing her best to focus on both her and her work at the same time.

“ _You both need to go out more, meet new people! I worry about my daughters, you know._ ”

“I have lots of friends!” Kara objected automatically, scratching out a paragraph and scribbling a quick note in the margin.

“ _Well, that’s true, you’ve never had trouble interacting with people, not since you got your powers under control. Your sister, on the other hand…_ ” Eliza heaved a put-upon sigh. “ _If she would only be a little_ nicer.”

“That’s not fair,” Kara objected. Of the two of them, Kara had always been the more extroverted one – she liked people, even when she wasn’t entirely sure how to interact with them. Alex had always been fine to spend time alone, glaring anyone away if they tried to get too close. “Alex is great at meeting new people, it’s just – she’s uh, she’s just busy all the time. You know the DEO is keeping her… um, busy.”

Eliza sighed. “ _What about a boyfriend? Does she have any men in her life?_ ”

“You shouldn’t be presumptuous, Eliza,” Kara chided distractedly, keeping an eye on the time and an ear on Cat’s private elevator. These reports had technically been due last night, except Kara had foolishly handed her finished ones to Elliot down in publishing, the unreliable one notable for misplacing anything remotely important. With one last flourish of her pen, she reached the bottom of the page and exhaled, slapping the report closed just as she heard the sound of Cat entering the elevator in the lobby.

“ _Kara Danvers, are you covering for your sister?!_ ” Eliza sounded surprisingly delighted for someone who assumed her daughter was lying to her.

“What? No! I’m not, I’m only trying to – ” Kara stood and fumbled with the stacks of paper in front of her, trying to get it all presentable as Ms. Grant approached in the elevator. “There’s nothing to cover for, Eliza, I’m only saying that – ” She muffled a Kryptonian curse as she knocked her hip into the desk and the files on top started to slide. Lunging forward, she accidentally dropped her phone but managed to save the stack and catch the files at the last second.

Blowing out a breath, she scrambled to pick up the phone and stick it back between her shoulder and her ear, still doing her best to listen to her foster mother but knowing time was running out before her boss arrived.

“ _Kara, darling, you’ve always been such a bad liar, you may as well tell me_.”

“Look, I have to – Ms. Grant is – Eliza, I’ll call you back later, alright?”

She hung up and tossed the phone so it landed on her chair, then turned to face the elevator just as it dinged and opened to reveal Cat Grant, frowning down at her phone.

She greeted Ms. Grant with a slightly flustered smile as she exhaled through her teeth, swiping the cup of coffee from her desk and holding it out.

“Good morning, Ms. Grant!”

“Hello, Keira. I trust last week’s reports are done?”

“Absolutely!” she answered cheerily, pointing at the stack on her desk.

“And the proposal?”

Kara leaned over and picked up the corresponding folder. “Proofread and photocopied, ready to be distributed as soon as you give the word.”

“Thank you, Keira. Now get me Celine on the phone, I have a few things I want to discuss with her regarding the gala next month.”

“Right away, Ms. Grant.” Kara smiled until Cat sauntered into her office and then turned back to her desk, double-checking that everything was in order before going to retrieve her phone. There was one new text message waiting for her from Eliza, and she swiped it open expecting a goodbye and have a nice day text with a promise to talk later.

_Eliza (8:48am): A mother always knows, Kara, I can’t believe you two were lying about Alex’s girlfriend!_

That was not a goodbye, have a nice day message.

Kara stared at the text with wide eyes, hurriedly cycling through their conversation to figure out what had happened for her to come to that conclusion. Her phone vibrated again, signaling that she had received another text, and when she looked down she paled.

_Eliza (8:49am): I think this is wonderful, I can’t wait to meet her!_

She had to talk to Eliza before this got any more out of hand.

Also before Alex found out about it. Definitely before that.

“Hey Kara,” Alex’s voice suddenly greeted her, Alex herself walking up to her desk with a smile, and Kara hastily covered her phone, shoving it into her back pocket and giving Alex a too-wide grin.

“Hi!” she said loudly, and Alex’s brow furrowed with concern as Kara cringed.

“Is everything okay?”

Kara nodded vigorously, adjusting her glasses, “Yup, uh-huh!”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Uh-huh…” she repeated dubiously. Kara smiled apprehensively, and Alex’s eyes only narrowed farther. “What’s going on?”

“What? Nothing! Me? Nothing! Just, you know, work.” She lasted all of two seconds before wilting under Alex’s stare, knowing there was no use in trying to hide it.

“Okay, just… don’t be mad,” she said meekly, pulling her phone out of her pocket and holding it towards her sister.

Alex gave her a skeptical look as she accepted it, quickly unlocking the screen, and Kara squeezed her eyes shut. The stunned silence that followed was not pleasant, and Kara released a breath when Alex broke it.

“Mom thinks I have a girlfriend?” She was looking down at the phone in her hand in confusion, her tone coloured with disbelief, and Kara fidgeted, trying not to look too guilty.

Her phone buzzed again, and Alex’s eyes widened even more. “Mom wants to _meet_  my girlfriend?” Her voice rose at the end, the strangled tone betraying her distress. “Why…?"

She looked up, and her eyes narrowed when she saw Kara’s face, suspicion replacing her shock. “What did you do.”

“Heh,” Kara laughed nervously, taking an automatic step back, “Well, in light of the progress we made during Thanksgiving, I think Eliza was… feeling guilty? Maybe? So, out of some sense of obligation or something, she’s been checking in with me for… updates? I don’t know…” she held up her hands and smiled weakly, “And she kept telling me that we needed to make friends and stuff, and I was defending us, because we’re doing perfectly fine on our own! And then she got on to us dating, but Ms. Grant was coming, and I knocked a bunch of stuff over, and I almost dropped the phone and, well, I had to go.”

Alex was watching her incredulously, and Kara raised her hands again in a sheepish shrug.

“And thinking back on it, me stumbling badly through an excuse and hanging up on her might be construed as me panicking because she had guessed that… you had a girlfriend.”

Alex only continued to stare at her, mouth hanging open, and she looked down at the phone again. There was a beat before she shook herself out of it. “…You did _what_?” she screeched, and Kara smiled weakly again.

Behind them, Ms. Grant started yelling, and for once Kara sighed in relief, already backing away before Alex could get really mad at her.

“Don’t worry! I’m gonna fix it.” Kara nodded decisively before scurrying off, and she heard Alex blow out a breath, forcing her shoulders to relax.

“Okay,” she muttered behind her, “Kara is going to fix it. Kara is good at fixing things, and Kara said says she’s going to fix it, so it’s going to be fixed. Okay.”

Peeking over her shoulder, Kara saw Alex run a hand through her hair and then down her face as she turned to go. It was okay, she would fix this; all she had to do was call Eliza later and set the record straight.

Easy.

 

 

 

Dismayed, Alex stopped in front of Kara’s desk the next morning and pulled out her phone. Kara was _not_ good at fixing things, and Kara did not fix it, and Alex regretted absolutely everything as she unlocked the screen to read the text from her mother.

_Mom (10:38am): I’m looking forward to lunch, honey! Make a reservation at a nice restaurant for once, I want to meet your girlfriend properly and not over takeout in your sister’s apartment._

She stared down at her phone in distress, and then lifted her head to gape at her sister, reminding herself that they were in fact standing in the middle of CatCo and she shouldn’t cause a scene.

“Kara,” she hissed, showing her the text, “I thought you said you were going to fix it!"

“I did! I am!” Kara waved her hands around, holding them out to ward Alex off and hoping to calm her down. “Look!” she crossed one arm over the other and pointed to something behind Alex’s back, and Alex turned to see Lucy Lane exiting the elevators.

Lucy gave them a friendly wave before stopping to talk to the receptionist at the desk, and Alex tilted her head, taking her in. She looked amazing as always, a specific brand of put together Alex couldn’t achieve without six hours of prep work, and Alex had to admire it.

Surprisingly, a fluttery feeling started to grow in her chest, one that was wholly unpleasant and seemed to stem from nowhere. Lucy tossed her head as she laughed at something, and her hair seemed to fall as if in slow motion.

Alex’s brow scrunched up in confusion as she watched her for a second longer, and then she pushed away the feeling and turned back to Kara. “How does that help? What, you think getting Lucy to bury Mom in lawyer-speak is going to do the trick?"

Kara adjusted her glasses. “Ah… no.”

She stayed silent, and Alex raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to break.

“It wasn’t – I didn’t mean to! I called Eliza back, you know, to clear things up, but she was so _happy_ , and I don’t know how it happened but I just sort of… agreed with her?”

Alex gaped again, mouth hanging open in disbelief, and Kara shuffled nervously, fidgeting with her hands.

“It was an accident, and she’s coming to visit today, so I had to act fast!”

“Okay, okay,” Alex squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose, “So what does Lucy have to do with any of this?”

“Well…” Kara said hesitantly, “You need a girlfriend now, right? So…” She waved her arms around, gesturing in a way that Alex didn’t see the relevance of. “Ta-dah! I got you a girlfriend!”

Alex could only stare, and Kara met her gaze with wide eyes. “Lucy’s nice, she said she’d be happy to help.”

“Sure,” Alex scoffed. “Lucy may be nice, but she’s also kind of an ass, Kara.”

Kara harrumphed, rolling her eyes. “How many women do you know willing to pretend to be your girlfriend, huh?” Kara poked a finger at her chest, and Alex batted her hand away. “I’m just working with what I’ve got!”

Scowling, Alex very pointedly did not turn around to look at Lucy again, not understanding why her cheeks were reddening at this very thought.

“Besides, she knows about what you really do, and she knows about me, so that takes care of that whole problem.”

At the receptionist’s desk, Lucy finally turned away and started walking towards them, and for some reason Alex’s stomach flipped in a way that almost felt nervous as she turned around to face her.

“Hey, guys,” Lucy greeted them, turning a dazzling smile on Alex. “Hey, girlfriend.”

“Lane,” Alex said gruffly, and Kara stuck her head around Alex’s shoulder.

“Hi Lucy! Thanks so much for helping out, Alex is totally grateful even though she’s acting like this.”

Alex planted a hand on her sister’s face and pushed her away.

“Yeah, no problem,” Lucy laughed, adjusting her grip on the strap of her bag, “Honestly I’m a great girlfriend, it’d be a shame to let that go to waste.”

Kara laughed and threw her arm around Lucy’s shoulders to give her a sideways hug, but all Alex could manage was a pained smile, ignoring the reprimanding look Kara shot her way.

“Well then, shall we?” Kara pulled back and gestured towards the elevators with a smile.

Alex sighed but still turned to go, and she absolutely did not start in surprise when Lucy grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together.

She didn’t. Shut up, Kara.


	2. Chapter 2

“There has to be a better way to handle this,” Alex grumbled as she was dragged into the restaurant, hand still linked with Lucy’s while Kara prodded her in the back. “Like, there has to be.”

“Probably!” Lucy agreed cheerfully, not looking at her as she thanked the hostess for showing them to their table, and Kara nodded sagely as she finally left her alone and sat down, smoothing her hands across the table.

“Yes, it’s called ‘Get a real date so your sister doesn’t have to make your friend do it’.”

Alex had been in the middle of sitting down next to her, and at that she elbowed Kara in the side, slightly too hard and probably bruising herself in the process. Lucy grinned at them and took her seat across the table, somehow managing to distract Alex even though she wasn’t doing anything particularly exciting.

“Hey,” Kara protested, clutching at her side without showing any signs of pain, “I’m just saying, it’s true!”

“Let’s remember that this whole thing is your fault in the first place,” Alex scoffed.

“I said I was sorry!”

Alex rolled her eyes and looked over to see Lucy watching them with an unreadable expression on her face. She blinked first and averted her gaze, and Alex furrowed her brow curiously.

“Oh, it’s Eliza,” Kara said suddenly, looking down at her phone and nudging her in the side, “She’s having some trouble finding the restaurant, I’m gonna go get her.” She pushed away from the table and quickly left with the promise to be back soon, and Alex felt a pang of nervousness at the prospect of being alone with her newfound girlfriend.

Fake. Fake girlfriend.

That left Alex and Lucy sitting in silence, and Alex ran a finger through the condensation collecting on her glass of water, glancing up at Lucy through her eyelashes.

“So what’s up? I know Kara’s got puppy dog eyes that are damn near impossible to resist, but you don’t actually have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Lucy shook her head, smiling, “Don’t worry about it, I’m always down for messing with parents. Plus, Kara said you’re paying for all my food.”

“Of course she did.”

Lucy laughed. “It’s great that you guys have each other.”

Smiling, Alex turned her head to watch the end of Kara’s ponytail disappear through the door. “Yeah,” she murmured, “Yeah, I got lucky there.” She shook her head and turned back to Lucy, leaning her forearms on the table. “Anyways, you’re really sure?”

“Why are you so worried?” Lucy asked teasingly, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow at her.

“I – I’m not,” Alex objected, straightening in her chair and brushing off her sleeve, very interested in the invisible dust and blustering, “I am totally game if you are. We just pretend we’re dating, how hard can it be?”

“Well,” Lucy’s eyes glinted mischievously as she leaned forward as well, her face suddenly much closer to Alex’s than before, “We do need to get our story straight.”

“Story?” Alex asked, choking as Lucy’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

“You know, how we got together, our first date. Who made the first move, how… involved we are.”

Alex couldn’t stop her eyes from sliding down to Lucy’s lips, and then she snapped her gaze away, a mortified blush spreading across her cheeks. “I – I – I don’t think that’s _entirely_ necessary, you know, we could just… not talk about it?”

Ignoring her, Lucy crossed her arms and leaned them on the edge of the table. “You really want to leave that much to chance? I thought you were all about preparation, Agent Danvers.”

Flustered, Alex pulled back and tugged at the hem of her shirt, needing something to do with her fingers. “Ah, well – ”

At that moment, Kara and Eliza arrived in a flurry, Kara chattering happily and carrying Eliza’s overnight bag over her shoulder, and Alex hastily sat back in her seat, scooting it away from the table.

“Hey Mom,” Alex smiled shakily, pointedly ignoring the wave of relief that passed over her and standing to give her a hug.

“Alex,” Eliza greeted her warmly and hugged her tightly before pulling away, “You look wonderful, darling!”

“Thanks. You too, Mom,” Alex said, and she huffed a laugh when her mother patted her excitedly on the arm.

“Now then,” Eliza put her hands on Alex’s shoulders and physically moved her to the side, looking at Lucy, “You must be Alex’s girlfriend?”

“Lucy Lane, yes ma’am,” Lucy said, standing to shake Eliza’s hand.

“Oh please, none of that. Call me Eliza!”

Lucy returned her smile. “It’s very nice to meet you, Eliza.” Instead of sitting back where she had been previously, she pulled the chair out for Eliza and then moved around the table to settle in next to Alex. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Well I’d love to say the same, but my daughter seems to have neglected to share any details with me.” She sent Alex a pointed look, and Alex felt herself sinking down sheepishly.

“Well, I mean – ”

Eliza waved a hand to cut her off, laying her hands on the table and looking between her and Lucy as Kara took her own seat. “Now, how did you two meet?”

“At – work,” Alex fumbled, knowing that her mother was now aware of the DEO but still unsure about how much of Lucy’s involvement she wanted to reveal. She was also putting a considerable amount of energy in ignoring how smug Lucy looked about being right that they needed a story.

“Actually, I set them up!” Kara announced proudly, “Alex is totally useless on her own, Eliza, like, completely hopeless, it’s pretty embarrassing.”

“Kara!” Alex exclaimed in a betrayed voice, gasping.

“No, it’s true,” Lucy laughed, leaning towards Eliza and widening her eyes conspiratorially, “I’ve seen her in action, let’s just say it’s a good thing she’s better at her day job than she is at dating.”

“Lucy!” Alex hissed indignantly

“Yes, she’s always been a little less elegant when it came to the intricacies of romantic relationships, even when she was younger.”

“ _Mom_!”

Lucy laughed freely, the sound far too pretty for the present situation, and Alex covered her face and groaned. All she could do was slump down in her chair and miserably resist the urge to bury her head in her arms, and Lucy reached over to pat her on the shoulder, a motion that ended with her hand just laying on Alex’s back. Alex could only try to sink farther into the table, scrunching up her face, and when she felt Kara nudging her lightly in the shin with her foot, she didn’t stop herself from kicking out, wincing when her toes connected with Kara’s invulnerable leg.

This was going to be a long lunch.

 

 

 

After they finished eating, Kara grabbed Eliza’s bag and zipped home to deposit it in her apartment before heading back to CatCo, leaving Eliza to tag along with Alex and Lucy to the DEO. They split off once they got there and changed into their uniforms, Lucy moving towards J’onn’s office and Alex going over to the computer terminal of the command center. Before she went her own way, Lucy pressed a quick kiss onto her cheek and said goodbye to Eliza, thoroughly unsettling Alex with how well they were getting along already.

Thankfully, once Lucy disappeared from sight and Eliza was distracted by something one of the techs was working on, Alex was able to finally get her head back and get some work done, stubbornly ignoring the way Lucy kept finding her way into her thoughts.

It wasn’t going particularly well, and she was embarrassed to say that she may have even failed in that particular task, but nobody else needed to know that.

Hours later, when she wrapped up one last case file and put her projects in order, Alex dusted off her hands and sent out the last email reminder to her team before clicking off the tablet and setting it down.

“Okay Mom, I’m heading out now, I’ll see you later at the apartment,” Alex gave her a half smile and turned to go, but Eliza tilted her head to the side.

“Aren’t you going to wait for your girlfriend?”

Alex froze, one foot hovering above the steps leading from the main computer station to the rest of the command center. Without looking, she lashed out with a fist to punch a grinning Vasquez in the shoulder and grimaced. “Stop laughing,” she hissed out of the corner of her mouth before swiveling her head to see Lucy across the room, standing with her hands on her hips as she examined something on a tablet with J’onn. Sighing internally, she looked back at her mother and smiled as brightly as she could.

“Of course! Yes, I am – we are leaving now, at the same time. Together.”

She held up a warning finger when Vasquez smirked and opened her mouth again, flashing her mother another smile she really hoped didn’t look as fake as it felt and then stalked away, going over to Lucy and latching on to her elbow.

“Come on, time to go,” she leaned over to whisper in Lucy’s ear, making sure her back was to Eliza. Lucy looked up in surprise, eyes shining in the dim lighting of the DEO base, and Alex realized suddenly that there was a chance that she was in entirely over her head.

She tried not to think about what that meant.

“And what’s got you all riled up there, Agent Danvers?” Lucy asked teasingly, and Alex exhaled before tilting her head ever so slightly towards Eliza, still watching them from across the room.

Lucy made a noise of understanding before smiling up at Alex and hooking her arm through hers. “Well why didn’t you just say so?” she breathed, giving her a charming smile and then going up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on Alex’s cheek.

Blushing despite herself, Alex blinked rapidly and tried to focus on the situation in front of her. J’onn was staring at them with wide eyes, mouth hanging open, and Alex smiled weakly. “Sir, you don’t even want to know.”

After a moment, he shook his head and muttered something under his breath, rubbing at his temples, and Lucy laughed.

“Guess that’s my cue. See you tomorrow, boss,” she said as she turned to go, bringing Alex with her, and Alex gave him a halfhearted wave before following.

“So how long are we keeping this up for?” Lucy asked conversationally as they walked towards the garage, not letting go of Alex’s arm.

“I mean, I guess a couple days?” Alex stuttered, keeping an unreasonable amount of her concentration on making sure her steps were steady, “Until my mom leaves.”

Lucy nodded thoughtfully, chewing on her lip in a way that Alex absolutely did not appreciate. “Don’t you think we should… practice?”

“Practice?” Alex repeated dumbly, and Lucy nodded again.

“I’m good, but clearly you need some help acting casual or your mom’s going to figure it out. She isn’t stupid.”

“…Right,” Alex got out, feeling exceptionally slow to catch up to her train of thought. “Right, you’re right. Okay,” she blew out a breath, “Okay, so what – what do we… practice?”

Lucy grinned, eyes shining with a combination of cunning and glee, and Alex tried to swallow, her mouth suddenly dry. That look didn’t bode well for her sanity.

“Where do we even start?”

 

 

 

Forty–eight agonizing hours later, Alex stopped and stared blankly at the sign hanging above the doors of the restaurant, not hearing Lucy the first three times she asked if she was okay.

“Alex?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, we’ve already done it once.” Lucy reached out and tangled her fingers with Alex’s in a now familiar motion, pulling her closer with a gentle tug. “It’s just another meal with your mom, no need to worry.”

Alex bit her lip, grimacing halfheartedly, but then she blew out a breath and shook out her shoulders. Lucy was watching her with a concerned furrow to her brow, an amused glint in her eyes but also with a kind smile, and Alex took a deep breath and resisted the urge to drop her head to rest it against Lucy’s, suddenly extremely glad that it was her she was doing this with.

“Yeah. Nothing to worry about here.”

The look on Lucy’s face was contemplative, and when she tilted her head to the side, Alex felt her breath hitch in her chest, doing her best not to stare at the way the street lamps were casting a glow on her, lighting her up in a way that seemed to draw Alex in completely.

It had been two long days of _Lucy_ , long and exhausting and absolutely amazing in every way, and Alex still wasn’t sure of anything to do with her, feeling like she was balanced back on her heels scrambling to get her feet back solidly on the ground.

They had fallen asleep watching movies, and Alex now knew what it was like to wake up with Lucy pressed against her. She knew what she looked like first thing in the morning, and she knew the way she liked to tuck herself into the corner of the couch, and how quickly she could go from sleepy to completely alert and ready to take on the day.

She had already known a lot about her, but now it felt like more.

Lucy didn’t say anything for a long moment, just watching her, and it took all of Alex’s willpower not to start shifting like a schoolgirl. She finally blinked a few times and shook her head, and then gave Alex another gentle smile.

“Come here,” she reached out with her other hand, tugging on the front of Alex’s shirt and pulling her forward, “You seriously need to get out of your own head.”

They stood there in silence for a few moments longer, long enough that it would have been uncomfortable with anybody else, and Alex didn’t have anything to say. Lucy rocked up onto her toes once before settling back down, and then she set her jaw and looked directly into Alex’s eyes.

“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” she whispered, and Alex’s heart stopped.

Though they had been steadily ‘practicing’ their physical contact since Lucy suggested it, Alex had somehow managed to avoid any situation where they would have to kiss properly. She was honestly quite proud of that feat, but apparently it was all for naught now, a bizarre sense of anticipation mixed with panic rising up in her.

Lucy wrapped her arms loosely around Alex’s neck when Alex didn’t say anything, taking the one step necessary to be in each others space, and all Alex could do was stare. This couldn’t be going where she thought it was, but apparently Lucy wanted to prove that line of thinking very wrong.

Slowly, practically inching forward, Lucy went up on her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of Alex’s mouth, pulling back to examine her face before nodding in satisfaction and leaning back in to kiss her properly.

And though her eyes had fluttered shut, Alex could swear she was seeing stars.

It lasted an eternity, and Alex only found herself pulling away for air when her lungs started to burn, not removing her hands from where they were resting on Lucy’s waist, her fingers bunching the material.

“I’m… Lucy – ”

Her awareness came rushing back to her, all the information about her surroundings momentarily overwhelming her mind as she snapped out of whatever haze she had fallen into, and that was when she spotted her mom sitting at a corner table by the window behind Lucy’s back. She hurriedly snapped her gaze away before they could make eye contact, but then she stilled.

Her mom was watching. Of course.

The realization that it was part of the same show cut through her and settled somewhere in the pit of her stomach, and Alex tried to swallow.

“I’m – we should, we should go in,” she managed to stutter, nodding firmly as she removed her hands and took a full step back from Lucy. Lucy was staring at her with a mix of confusion and something deeper, looking like she had been waiting for something more of a reaction, and Alex spared a second to hope that it had at least been a good kiss for her.

Alex nodded once more before spinning around to grab the door handle and pull, holding it open for Lucy without meeting her eyes, and after a beat Lucy obliged, moving past her without a word. Alex thought she saw her lift a hand and reach for her, but the motion was fleeting and gone by the time she focused on it.

“Good evening, Eliza,” Lucy said, sweeping forward to greet her and leaving Alex to follow behind. She was back to her beautiful smile, only giving Alex one more confused glance before throwing herself into a conversation with her mom, and Alex made sure to drop a hand on her shoulder and squeeze as she passed to take her seat, hoping it properly conveyed the message that there was nothing wrong.

Watching her as the dinner progressed, Alex slowly realized something. It was such a tiny detail, so simple, and so glaringly obvious, but it was also so sudden that it hit her like that time Kara had fallen out of a tree and landed on her when they were kids.

She liked Lucy. She _liked_ Lucy. She was completely, utterly, head over heels crazy for the other woman, and now there was no way to avoid that, even though Alex really, _really_ wanted to.

What was she supposed to do now?

 

The evening passed smoothly, and Alex agonized over it as they headed back to the car, and then on the entire ride back to Lucy’s apartment. She walked Lucy to her door, twisting her keys around her fingers and thinking hard, and nearly walked into a wall as a result.

“Everything okay?” Lucy spoke up, watching her with concern. Alex nodded quickly, shoving her hands in her pockets, and then she hesitated.

“Listen, I think – I think we should stop this,” she pulled out a hand and gestured clumsily between the two of them to illustrate what she meant, waiting nervously when Lucy turned to face her properly.

“Am I really that bad of a girlfriend? You’ve already had enough of me?” Lucy asked wryly, raising an eyebrow, and Alex blinked.

“What? No, you’re a really good girlfriend – don’t look at me like that, asshole, you already knew that – you’re a really good girlfriend, too good, and I – ” Alex stopped, pressing her lips together. Lucy continued to watch her, eyes wide and shaded with worry, and Alex wanted to whine about how difficult she was making things, just by being herself.

Hesitating, she went with a partial truth as she stuffed her hand back into her pocket, clenching it into a fist. “I always wanted this, you know? Something – something to share with my mom, bond over a relationship, listen to her advice, all that cheesy nonsense. And I don’t – I don’t want it to be based on a lie.”

“Is that really all you want?” Lucy asked softly, blinking the softest eyes at her as she wrapped her arms around herself, and Alex curled her shoulders.

“What I want?” Alex laughed, pressing her fists into her stomach through her jacket, “I want…”

 _I want you_.

But she didn’t want it unless Lucy did too.

Lucy was still watching her, and Alex could feel the panic bubbling up in her chest.

“I – I want – I don’t want _this_!” Alex caught her breath as soon as the words left her mouth, eyes widening in panic, and she only caught a glimpse of Lucy’s dumbstruck face before she whirled around and hurried away, ignoring the elevator in favor of running down the stairs and leaving Lucy standing alone at her apartment door.


	3. Chapter 3

Alex sighed at her phone where she was lying on her couch, swiping to refuse Kara’s call just like she had been doing for days. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Lucy since their confrontation either, and she didn’t know which one would be easier to deal with first.

“So that’s how it is, huh?” came Kara’s voice from behind the couch, and Alex scrambled to her feet, instinctively grabbing for the gun taped under her coffee table.

Kara was standing in front of the open window in her Supergirl outfit, arms crossed and looking none too pleased, and Alex let the tension melt out of her body, dropping her hand.

“Oh, hey,” she muttered, bending to smooth the tape back over the handle of the gun, “Didn’t hear you come in.”

“Alex, come on,” Kara encouraged, expression softening, “It’s been a week since Eliza left and you still haven’t talked to Lucy.”

“That’s ‘cause it’s embarrassing,” Alex muttered, not lifting her head to look at her sister as she moved back to the couch. “So if you could leave me alone, everything will be just fine.”

Kara thought about it for a second and then shook her head. “Nope! I’ve got a better idea.”

She darted forwards, and Alex yelped when Kara swept her up in her arms and then promptly jumped out the window.

“Kara!” she protested indignantly, one arm instinctively going around Kara’s neck as they soared into the sky.

“One day you’ll thank me for this,” Kara yelled over the rushing of the wind, and Alex gaped at her incredulously.

“I am in _pyjamas_ ,” she yelled back, knowing the volume was unnecessary but not caring as she looked down at her yummy sushi pyjama pants and Supergirl shirt. Her socks had penguins on them, and if they were going where she suspected they were going, this was absolutely not what she wanted to be wearing for it.

Kara ignored her, only slowing down when she was hovering in front of what Alex recognized to be Lucy’s apartment building, and Alex covered her face with her hands when Kara knocked politely on Lucy’s window.

The only had to wait a moment before Lucy appeared, pushing the window open with a surprised look on her face, and Kara floated inside with a cheerful greeting.

“Thought you might want to sort some stuff out,” she told her as she carefully ducked her head to get through the window and then occupied herself with making sure not to get her cape caught.

“Thanks, Supergirl,” Lucy gave her half a smile, stepping back to make sure she had room.

“Of course!” Kara’s response was bright, and then she unceremoniously dumped Alex out of her arms, leaving her to stumble and catch her balance while fruitlessly trying to hide her pyjamas. It was quite obviously a lost cause, and Kara gave them a silly salute before diving backwards out of the window and disappearing.

Now alone, there was silence as Alex and Lucy watched her go before turning to stare at each other. It was awkward, and Alex said the first thing she could think of to break it.

“These are Kara’s clothes.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure.”

“They are.”

“Whatever you say.”

Alex fell silent for another moment before she adding, “She bought them. For herself.”

“Uh–huh.”

Falling silent yet again, Alex awkwardly shifted on her feet and then hastily brought up her hands to smooth down her windswept hair.

“So how’ve you been?” she tried, immediately grimacing at the words, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Right, this is ridiculous. Can we have a real conversation? Right now, cards on the table.”

Alex sputtered a couple nonsensical words before squeezing her eyes shut and heaving a sigh. “Listen, I – I’m sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t, what I said, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”

“Then how did you mean it?” Lucy asked, crossing her arms, but Alex didn’t think she had ever seen her look so unsure.

“I mean, it’s just – it brought too many problems with it, and I – I don’t think we were… well equipped to deal with them?”

Lucy looked hurt, saying, “Well I’m sorry for causing so much trouble for you.”

Alex felt her throat closing up, and she squeezed her eyes shut again. “No, that’s not – I didn’t mean _you_ were a problem, I just – there isn’t… I can’t. I can’t do this, Lucy, okay? I can’t.”

“And why not?” she demanded, crossing her arms, “You were all for it before that last night.”

“Because I don’t want it if it’s not real!” Alex took a shuddering breath as she pushed her hair away from her face with both hands, unable to meet her eyes anymore. “I don’t…”

Lucy stepped forward, a small furrow to her brow, and Alex found herself holding her breath.

“Hey,” Lucy prodded carefully, words so gentle that Alex almost managed to start breathing properly again, “What do you mean by that?”

“It was… you were… I like you, Lucy,” is what she finally got out, hanging her head, “I really… _really_ like you, and pretending to be… _with_ you… I’m sorry.”

Alex could physically feel her heart beginning to crumble in the answering silence, but then Lucy saved the day once more.

“…I was wondering when you would catch on,” she whispered, bringing her hands up to gently cup Alex’s face, and Alex froze at the contact, too surprised to react properly.

Not paying her any mind, Lucy pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of Alex’s mouth, the same motion as the first time they’d kissed one long week ago outside the restaurant, and Alex almost collapsed in on herself, all her breath leaving her in a rush.

“You… you… what?”

“I wasn’t faking anything,” Lucy said tenderly, stroking her fingers along Alex’s cheek, “Yes, I agreed to help because Kara asked me to, and I would’ve gone through with it entirely, but if you liked me too, if I was right about that, then it was all, without question, completely real on my part.”

The words, even though they were exactly what Alex had been desperate to hear, didn’t make very much sense to her. Luckily, Lucy knew how to help that along, tilting her head and cutting straight to the point.

“So, real dating then? How about it?”

Alex managed a nod, and she was rewarded with a dazzling smile that took her breath away, leaving her almost lightheaded.

But that was nothing compared to what came next.

Lucy leaned forward again, this time surging towards her in one quick motion and pressing her lips to Alex’s in a proper kiss, and Alex couldn’t do anything except kiss back, helpless until she had no air left to breathe. Her head started to swim, and only then did she pull back with a gasp, letting her eyes close as she rested her forehead against Lucy’s.

But before she could get settled, she winced and then let out a loud groan.

“What’s wrong?” Lucy craned her neck back to look at her, not moving her arms where they were looped around her.

“We have to – this is because of _Kara_ , technically. We’re going to have to tell Kara that it’s because of her that we’re dating.” Alex’s expression was pained, mouth twisted up in a grimace, and Lucy rolled her eyes in amusement. “She’s never going to let us forget it, do you know how annoying she’s going to be?”

“It’s okay,” Lucy laughed, obviously thinking she was being ridiculous, and Alex vigorously shook her head.

“No, you don’t understand – ”

“We’ll send her some thank you chocolates,” she soothed, pulling on Alex’s forearms to try and get her to relax, “She loves chocolate.”

“No, Lucy – ”

“Come on, you really think it’ll matter?”

“We can’t – ” Alex suddenly fell silent and froze, the movement abrupt enough that Lucy also stopped and turned to her in surprise.

“…Alex?” she asked hesitantly, not liking the slightly crazed look gleaming in her eyes.

“How about… we don’t tell her,” Alex tried, slowly brightening as she worked something out in her head, and Lucy raised an eyebrow at her.

“We _just_ finished pretending to date, now you want to go straight to pretending _not_ to date?”

Alex nodded eagerly, swinging their joined hands back and forth. “It’ll be great, we keep it up for a couple months – ”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“No, hear me out, it’ll be fun.”

“Alex…”

“All we have to do is – ”

“Alex, no.”

“But – ”

“No.”

Alex crossed her arms in a pout that was remarkably similar to Kara’s usual one, though Lucy had the feeling she wasn’t aware of it. “It would be so easy, we just – ”

“Nope,” Lucy shook her head and reached out to grab the front of her shirt, yanking her forward with enough force that they ended up pressed against each other. Seeing Alex open her mouth again, no doubt to keep arguing, Lucy leaned up and silenced her with a kiss, once again wrapping her arms securely around her neck, and Alex didn’t last a moment before putting her hands on her waist and sinking into her.

 

Unbeknownst to them, Kara was still sitting on the roof of the building, patiently kicking her feet over the edge. Given that she had just heard the end of their conversation, all of their efforts to keep her in the dark were effectively useless, and Kara grinned.

She would wait to tell them that though, she decided as she floated up into the air with a lazy twirl. At least until after they gave her the chocolate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara whenever Alex wants her to do something: Hey remember that time I set you up with the love of your life?  
> Alex, yelling as she marches away: YOU CAN’T KEEP USING THAT AS AN EXCUSE


End file.
